Rob Ford's Toronto

[sarnya]

I thought this discrepancy was interesting.

Toronto Sun, March 13: Support for Mayor Rob Ford steady despite Ass-gate

A new Forum Research poll, provided exclusively to the Toronto Sun on Tuesday, found Ford’s support has remained steady despite accusations from Sarah Thomson that he grabbed her “ass†at an event last Thursday night.

The poll, conducted Monday night after almost four days of the scandal swirling around Ford, found 43% of Toronto residents surveyed approve of the job the mayor is doing, while 57% disapprove.

Forum’s last poll of the mayor’s approval rating, conducted at the end of February, had him at around 44%.

Toronto Sun, February 25th: Mayor Rob Ford keeps rising in the polls, in spite of missteps and legal woes

Mayor Rob Ford's approval rating has climbed in the wake of the legal troubles that almost cost him his job.

However, a Forum Research poll provided to the Toronto Sun shows city residents are almost split on Ford's performance.

The poll, conducted last Friday, found 48% of those surveyed approve of the job Ford is doing as mayor while 52% disapprove. That's up from a 45% approval rating last month when Forum conducted its last poll and an even bigger increase compared to December's findings when 42% of those surveyed gave him a thumbs up.

In the week between these two articles, there was another poll conducted. It showed Ford'a approval rating back down to 44%. The Toronto Star was the only media outlet to carry the 4% drop in his approval during the last week of February, which isn't terribly surprising. Don Peat who wrote both those articles above, certainly didn't write about the 4% decrease... at least not until it worked in his audience's favour.

Somebody asked a few days ago whether Ford was funnelling money to the Sun to act as his personal PR team. Given this pathetic attempt to show Ford's declining approval ratings as a positive thing for Ford nation, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that accusation was the truth.

The real story here is that his approval ratings rose after his court cases earlier this year and now they've dropped back to where they've always been. In short, some people felt sorry for him and that translated into the approval ratings. I'm sure we'll see a few increases and decreases depending on le scandale de jour. Ford's fan boys have their heads deep in the sand for the long haul.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The point is that Jarvis is NOT an expressway. There is no such thing as "essentially" - bike lane or not, riding on the street is legal. Besides, isn't the argument of taking out the bike lanes not safety but of capacity - at a time when traffic speed is at its' lowest (i.e. congestion, due to volume)?

AoD

This was Jarvis Street. It was not or is an expressway until the 1950's.

It was "improved" to this:

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Somebody asked a few days ago whether Ford was funnelling money to the Sun to act as his personal PR team. Given this pathetic attempt to show Ford's declining approval ratings as a positive thing for Ford nation, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that accusation was the truth.

Sun Media and Ford make good bedfellows though I have a hard time swallowing the notion that money is being funneled into the Toronto Sun to make Ford look good. Sun Media is a sleazy, poor man's Fox "news" north, as such they tow the conservative/right-wing line across the political spectrum so if you read the Sun don't believe the propaganda between the folds. I mostly trust the other major dailies, though I won't deny for a moment that the Toronto Star has it in for Ford.

 

[malvern2]

Is it so hard to believe that Ford has such strong support? Numbers don’t lie, the Forum Research poll on CP24 shows strong support for the mayor...surely CP24 has no reason to pump the mayor up.

 

[jje1000]

Ford’s approval rating remains unchanged

Unproven allegations that Mayor Rob Ford groped a political rival have done nothing to diminish his support among Torontonians, a new poll from Forum Research finds.

The telephone poll of 918 city residents conducted on Monday night found that 43 per cent of respondents approve of the job the mayor is doing, compared to the 44 per cent that said the same in a similar poll conducted on Feb. 28.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent, 19 times out of 20.

“The more trouble Rob gets in, the more his supporters love him,†Forum Research President Dr. Lorne Bozinoff said in a press release. “He's made of Teflon, Kevlar and puppy dog tails, it seems.â€

Last Friday former mayoral candidate Sara Thomson accused Ford of making an inappropriate comment and then grabbing her buttocks during an event put on by the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee.

Ford then issued a statement, calling Thomson’s allegations “completely false.â€

He reiterated those comments while hosting his weekly radio show on Newstalk 1010 this past weekend.

So far neither Thomson or Ford have backed away from their version of events.

Support is highest among older people

The Forum Research poll found that Ford’s support is highest among those aged 65 and older with 52 per cent of respondents in that category saying they approve of the job he is doing. At the other end of the spectrum, only 36 per cent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 approved of Ford’s performance.

Ford also continues to do well in the suburbs and struggle in the downtown core, the poll finds. About 54 per cent of respondents in Scarborough and Etobicoke said they approved of the job Ford is doing while only 42 per cent in North York and 28 per cent in Toronto and East York answered that question affirmatively.

http://www.cp24.com/news/ford-s-approval-rating-remains-unchanged-1.1193623#ixzz2NWahvklB

 

[Lenser]

I believe Ford does have that support. But I expect a closer look at the numbers would reveal that support for him is holding steady in the belt surrounding the city centre - and in the centre, most do not at all support Ford - and that too, is holding steady. I just don't see him winning any more friends in the core.

Nor do I see Ford's people shovelling money the Sun's way; they are in the same ideological camp. I would be shocked if the Sun didn't support Rob Ford. Any allegations that Ford is sending kick-backs the Sun's way strike me as conspiracy fanaticism. Ford plays fast and loose with many rules but he hardly needs to pay off what are already his biggest fans.

Finally, I don't see Jarvis as being expressway. It's an arterial road. Of course, part of the problem is clashing views of what it is and who it's intended to serve.

 

[Dilla]

Is it so hard to believe that Ford has such strong support? Numbers don’t lie, the Forum Research poll on CP24 shows strong support for the mayor...surely CP24 has no reason to pump the mayor up.

Geeez, i don't know if i'd call 40ish% strong support for a mayor. It's surprisingly strong - because we're talking about a semi-literate buffoon of a mayor - but it's not particularly strong by any other measure.

 

[canortan]

"only 36 per cent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 approved of Ford’s performance."

Are these not also the people least likely to vote in a municipal election? Perhaps the key to defeating Ford in 2014 is getting this demographic to show up.

ps. first post, long-time lurker.

 

[Roy G Biv]

I was talking to someone who recently had dinner with a prominent member of the Smitherman campaign. He said that everytime any sort of negative, character-related news story hit the cycle, they saw Ford's numbers go up... it boggled their minds. They eventually saw these stories as actually reinforcing his "every-man" image.

Ford has, by accident, successfully framed himself as an imperfect every-man, even though his life has been one of complete privliege.

These close-calls will help frame him as a resilient winner who overcomes adversity.

Another campaign tidbit that came out of this dinner: Sarah Thomson is nuts.

 

[Dilla]

Another campaign tidbit that came out of this dinner: Sarah Thomson is nuts.

Not surprising. I'm suspect of anyone in her age group who would start growing dreads.

 

[Bruvyman]

Not surprising. I'm suspect of anyone in her age group who would start growing dreads.

And I am suspicious of anyone who would judge someone based on their hairstyle.

 

[Dilla]

And I am suspicious of anyone who would judge someone based on their hairstyle.

And I am suspicious of anyone who would judge someone based on them judging someone based on their hairstyle.

 

[Ramako]

And I am suspicious of anyone who would judge someone based on their hairstyle.

lol... I love self-righteous comments like this... as if hairstyles aren't a premeditated reflection of someone's character and personality. I'm sure you'd have no problem with this guy doing your taxes or babysitting your kids:

http://www.sodahead.com/fun/is-this-the-best-or-worst-hairstyle-ever/question-1735367/?page=5

 

[Lenser]

Fast forward a few years and he could be a button-down lawyer on Bay Street. I've seen purple-tinged, Mohawk-sporting punks morph into just that.

 

[Dilla]

Fast forward a few years and he could be a button-down lawyer on Bay Street. I've seen purple-tinged, Mohawk-sporting punks morph into just that.

I know this is off-topic, but this is why i included in her age group when I referred to Ms. Thompson.